Muhammad Hasan, known as Toʾ Janggut because of his long white beard, was a peasant farmer and an itinerant rice trader in the southernmost district of Kelantan, a state that came under British control in 1909. Among the effects of colonial rule were displacement of the independent powers of district territorial chiefs and the introduction of new and unwelcome forms of land taxation.

As a former and loyal follower of the Pasir Puteh chief, Toʾ Janggut was affected by both measures. In April 1915 he organized first a tax boycott and then an armed rising of almost 2,000 farmers, designed to expel the British. Troops had to be brought in from Singapore to quell the rising, which lasted for a month. Though there was no great loss of life, Toʾ Janggut died in the final attack on his stronghold, and his name continues to live as that of an early hero in the anticolonialist struggle.